Angel Kiss
by Vic Powell
Summary: A year has passed since Sora perfected the Angel's Maneuver. Ken has tried to tell her how he feels but has never succeeded, Leon is making his move, and he keeps seeing his sister in mirrors, playing with a pale golden haired man in purple. Now that she's a true Kaleido Star, will she seek love, or is she going to focus on challenging anyone who tries to take her throne?


His eyes had followed Sora since she had first arrived at Kaleido Stage. She was a glittering angel, a goddess no one could touch. Anyone she was near glowed with a light she helped burst to life, even if they didn't realize it.

It had been almost a year since she had perfected the Angel's Maneuver, but he saw it the first time she had performed; he was not the only one that saw her light shining brightly, and he was not the only one who looked at her so gently that everything else melted away except her.

Ken Robbins stared at the clipboard in front of him, his blue eyes moving quickly to memorize the notes Mia had written. It wasn't too difficult, he had been acting as a stage hand slash manager for a few years now. Kalos liked to keep young people around because they had the energy, the drive, to keep Kaleido Stage running, and would long after he retired from the gig.

While the blonde haired man stared at the clipboard, out of the corner of his eye something sparkled. He shouldn't look, it hurt too much to do so now, but he did. He saw Sora, standing in a yellow leotard, golden gauze loosely formed into a flowing skirt around her, roses tucked into her hair and decorating the skirts in metallic paint, her hand being held by Leon Oswald, who wore a navy tailcoat, his hair tied at the nape of his neck with a matching ribbon, black pants on and gold designs flowing over all of it.

The stage manager sighed, turning away. It was true that Sora was still single, but Leon stared after her with such longing and interest, Ken knew that compared to him, Sora's stage partner, he stood no chance.

Leon had changed over the last year. When he had first met Sora he dismissed her as an insignificant player on the stage, not even worth any time while he was there, but the magenta haired woman from Japan had slayed the dragon guarding Leon's heart, like she had for Layla, Yuri, and May. All of them were her friends now, each one trusting of her and what she could do, hoping she would continue to be a true star of Kaleido Stage.

It was the last showing of Swan Lake tonight. The next production was going to be Beauty and the Beast, which had been in the wings for a while, and Mia had basic costumes altered from ones in storage. They were trying the outfits on since there were a couple hours until curtain, and the director, with her orange pigtails and her excited squealing, was bouncing around the two and fawning over how perfect they looked for the role.

"But..." Everyone stopped and looked at Mia. Whenever there was a 'but' that meant a big change. "What if... Sora was the Beast, and Leon was the Beauty?"

The whole cast stared at her. "Wait, wait, hear me out. What if Sora played a beautiful dancer, who captivated all who saw her. There was a jealous fairy that wanted all the attention," Mia looked at May, who bristled and puffed her cheeks out, but said nothing, "who then turned Sora into a beast, saying only one who wished to help her, who could fall in love with her grotesque looks, who she would also have to fall in love with. Too scared to see anyone, she hid herself in an abandoned castle, where things began to come alive when she wept upon them, for her tears released drops of magic. Leon, the Beauty in this tale, is a wandering clock maker who has been looking for a place to stay, but no one in the town will let him, so he ends up lost in the forest and finds the castle, and its new mistress. She's very reluctant to meet him and he's very startled by her at first, discovering her dancing in one of the old gardens, but they develop a friendship. The fairy, having been observing the pitiful beast, tries to sabotage their budding romance. Ultimately she will fail, the spell will be broken, and with the release of magic, the castle will come alive and be renewed. A happy ending, of course!"

"That... that's an interesting twist," Sora said, smiling. "It sounds exciting! I can't wait to get started." She began to bounce on her toes, unable to contain her enthusiasm.

Leon let go of her hand and chuckled, muttering, "An interesting concept... me not playing the villain. I will take the challenge."

Mia leaned close to Sora and whispered, "Leon's changed a lot, you know, I'm not honestly sure he could play a villainous beast now anyway."

Sora tilted her head, looking at Leon as he walked away. He had changed? Somehow, she felt as if she hadn't noticed.

Ken cleared his throat and approached the group. "Alright, Sora, you need to go get changed, final curtain's in a couple of hours. Put that costume away and go get on tonight's. Mia, is everything set for the final show of Swan Lake?"

Mia looked up at Ken and smiled in an almost knowing way. He stared at her, taken aback. "W-what?"

"I bet you wanted to play the part of the clock maker, didn't you?" Mia knew, heck, everyone knew, about how much Ken liked Sora, but even when he tried to tell her, it backfired on him. The director turned to Jean, talking to him about the set, a light blush of pink in her cheeks. She might know who Ken liked (and honestly, who didn't?) but she might not know that Ken knew who she liked.

Leon got into his costume for the last time, adjusting the head piece and fixing his shoes. He stared into the mirror, looking closely at his steel colored eyes. They were no longer iced over, and he no longer dreaded seeing himself, the visage of Death right behind him. He saw Sophie instead, whispering in his ear and giggling. A smile flitted to his face as he watched her, the way she moved in a way so similar to Sora. And there was a man with her, dressed in purple, wearing a half mask, with curling pale golden hair that tapered off near his feet, his skin ghostly white. He danced with Sophie and spoke to her, although the man looking in the mirror couldn't hear what they were saying. But his little sister looked at Leon, and then the man that was talking to her, and clapped her hands. What? What was she so excited about? Did it have to do with him? The pale man met the gaze of Leon and slowly smiled, bowing and disappearing from sight. The male lead rubbed his eyes, and Sophie faded away too.

"I must be going crazy," he muttered. He stood, took a deep breath, and left the dressing room to the ghosts that seemed to inhabit it.

The tall French man strode down the hall, not really paying any attention to anyone, but half smiling at them and sort of nodding to those he passed. He was no longer the god of Death, he was just Leon Oswald now, male lead at Kaleido Stage. He knew that Sora had a nickname, the Angel of Light, while Layla was the Phoenix Fire. His eyebrows drew downwards. What awful names, he thought. He could probably think of better.

Standing at the entrance to the stage, he felt his heart race a little. His last show with Sora doing the Angel's Maneuver. It was exciting to him, and his mouth went a bit dry. He really wanted to make it special, to thank her for all she had done for him. She had helped him heal, been a true friend, a person he was proud to call his partner. She was not just an angel of light, she was his angel.

The show started as it always did, with Sarah singing. She sang beautifully, as she always did, and the lights faded as she left the stage. Sora entered with the other swans and Leon was captivated by her, as he always was. She was beautiful, energetic, and outshone anyone near her, which was surprisingly hard to do, because the brighter she shined, the more the others on stage glowed. It was her talent, making everyone else look better, work harder, be more determined... she just pushed people without noticing, in the best of ways, to do their best.

Leon had his turn on the stage, May and Rosetta did their Eternal Illusion, everything went perfectly, as it had for the last year. And then... Leon watched Sora's Angel Maneuver, his heart leaped to his throat, and his mouth went dry. This feeling in the pit of his stomach, it was unlike anything he had felt before. Before he knew it, Sora was getting close to him. She put her hands on his shoulders and leaned in, as she had so many times before. Normally, he leaned in, but they never truly touched, not in the way he had wanted to for so long. He gripped the cable holding the swing as Sora leaned in this time, reached up with his other hand, and touched her hair. He closed the gap this time, leaned out just a bit further, and made sure that this time, their lips met.

It was a brief kiss, but it was enough. Sora's cheeks began to turn pink as she returned on the swing, and she finished her performance, beautifully of course, but as soon as they were on the swing together, Leon held her gently against him with one arm, gazing down at her fondly and whispering, "Sora, thank you."

The angel, his angel, looked up at him, smiled, and blushed a warm, pleasant shade as she replied, "For what, Leon?"

He smiled, took her hand, and they jumped down from the swing to take their final bows. He didn't say, which left Sora confused, but she kept waving and bowing like she was supposed to.

In the wings, Ken was gripping his clipboard so tightly that he cracked the plastic backing. Anger, actual anger, burned in his eyes, directed right at Leon Oswald. He could feel it and turned to look at the stage manager, but there was no confusion, no apology. There was just a dead stare, as if Ken wasn't even a challenge.

Ken turned and left, his heart aching so badly it was hard to breathe. Somewhere in the distance he heard someone shouting, "Ken? Ken! Someone call an ambulance!"


End file.
